THIS was a moment that the Rangers support had waited four years for. For Andy Halliday, it was a night that he has been yearning for his whole life.

Not that you could tell, of course.

The 24-year-old Glaswegian may have only been at Ibrox for a season as a player, but the Rangers midfielder is more than familiar with the royal blue shirt that strained over the racing heart proudly beating beneath it last night.

Raised as a diehard Rangers supporter, the scenes of celebration around the Govan ground last night will have meant as much to Halliday as anyone else revelling in their return to the Scottish top flight.

This was evident when the man launched himself into the Broomloan Stand after full-time, before reappearing in the thick of the crowd as the celebrations got in full swing.

“They were asking me to give me a song but I had to be careful which one I picked,” laughed Halliday.

“I managed to grab the mic but I didn’t sing for too long because my throat hasn’t been too great over the last few days.

“I’ll be ready to go again on Sunday.

“I just told myself before the game, that whatever is going to happen just savour it because you don't know how often you are going to experience things like that on a football park.

“As usual I got carried away again.”

The jubilation in the stands and on the pitch following the 1-0 win over Dumbarton was founded on much more than hysteria at what has achieved, but what can be earned in the days, weeks, months and even years ahead.

In the four years Rangers have been out with the Scottish top flight, those seeking a silver lining had hoped the club would cleanse itself of all its troubles and re-emerge fresher, better and stronger for the experience.

Arguably that was a process that didn’t get into full swing until the start of the current campaign. Fresh off the back of a play-off defeat to Motherwell, Mark Warburton came in to pick up the pieces and construct a Rangers side in his own image.

Now his Championship-winning picture has been painted, Halliday is bullish about the Ibrox club’s ambition for a Premiership masterpiece.

“We have got to be challenging for the title, it is as simple as that,” he said. “That is not me being arrogant or disrespectful to Celtic at all, they are four in a row and going for another title, but you can't be at a club like this and be happy for second.

“Even if you asked the English boys now they’d tell you it took them two days to work out what this club was all about.

“When you play for Rangers it’s a 24/7 lifestyle.

“You are going to be stopped in the street and sometimes it’s not nice things you hear but that goes with the territory.

“You have got to deal with that in the right manner.

“You’ve got to deal with it in the right way.

“That’s the expectation and I think we’ve managed to do that really well.

“We’ve managed to win the league with a few games to spare.

“Our aim is still to win every game from now until the end of the season.”

With a Petrofac Training Cup final in just a few days’ time against Peterhead, Halliday could have another chance to find his singing voice at Hampden.

“We have five games to go in the league and then it’s onto the cup games,” he said.

“With the expectation levels we set ourselves we’re obviously going to go for every trophy.”